Lots of people are telling me that I need to read Daniel Brook's book The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner-Take-All America, and I probably do. But if Adam Doster's review is correct, it's main point seems a bit banal. So far as I can tell, Brooks argues that conservative economic policies have shredded the safety net, forcing more and more talented graduates to enter law school (or investment banking, or whatever) rather than follow their bliss by working for low pay at virtuous non-profits.
Well, yeah. Working for low pay at a job that confers lots of Good Person points has always been something of a luxury for the young, well-off, and independent. And you don't go into law or hedge fund management because you're seeking subsistence: You do it because you're seeking riches, and status. I am, to be sure, a big believer in the economic autonomy offered by such programs as universal health care. But I don't think the end result will be a vast reordering of the occupational landscape. It will just be more people with health care, and a bit less job lock. And creating economic security for the young and upwardly mobile (i.e, by creating free college) will cost other people more money -- money that I'm not sure should be spent subsidizing the educations of the upper middle class.
All that said, I haven't read the book, and should. It's fully possible Brooks deals with exactly these objections.